How this £6 bottle of Malbec is one of the world’s best wines – and you can buy it from Asda

This bottle of plonk beat thousands of rivals to win a prestigious wine competition last year - and you can buy it for next to nothing

BY SOPHIE CHRISTIE, Digital Consumer Reporter

1st February 2017, 1:34 pm

Updated: 2nd February 2017, 12:44 pm

DRY January is officially over - much to the relief of many drinkers across the country - and a cheap bottle of Asda plonk could be the perfect tipple to ease you back into boozy life.

The La Moneda Reserva Malbec, which won last year's prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards, is a complete steal at £5.98.

Asda

The Malbec was so popular last year that Walmart - Asda's owner - started stocking the red in stores across the US

The Asda own-brand red won best in show after it was tasted blind against other Malbec blends from Chile. It won the award for "best single-variety red costing under £15".

A total of 16,000 bottles were entered into the competition, which was judged by a panel of 240 experts.

Following the win last year, demand for the bargain bottle was so high it crashed the supermarket’s online Wine Shop after a flurry of orders.

Asda confirmed that sales grew by over 150 per cent year-on-year following the award win.

It was so popular, in fact, that Walmart - the American retailer which owns Asda - decided to start stocking the plonk in 577 of its 4,600 US stores, for $6.96 a bottle.

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While the bargain bottle of red isn't new, The Washington Post last week revealed why the red wine is so cheap.

The paper explained how La Moneda is mass-produced by Ranco Wines, Chile’s largest wine exporter, which ships more than 80million litres a year to more than 25 countries. That’s 107million bottles, or nearly 9million cases.

So rather than being created in rustic oak barrels in a beautiful vineyard in Chile, the wine is an industrial product made in stainless-steel tank farms.

Getty Images

The wine is sold exclusively at Asda

The wine is also shipped in bulk to Britain and bottled here, which helps reduce costs further.

The Malbec, described as "deliciously smooth and juicy with rich blackberry, black cherry and damson fruit" is in stock today, and can be picked up from Asda for just shy of £6. Bargain!

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